One of the Good Ones
by itusedtobefun
Summary: "Nope, this hangover is not too bad at It is one of those languid, sleepy aftermaths, the kind you can even learn to enjoy on the right type of day- as long as you treat it as a mere, mild side effect to a night well spent. And today is just the right kind of " A scene from Gail and Holly sometime, weeks after


Gail has a hangover.

But it's one of the good ones. Really, it is.

This tepid little number is not too much more than a slight drumming in the head and a drag around the eyelids- a pesky but handy reminder that she had a seriously good time last night.

Luckily, she was tempted away from the impromptu party before the drinking got too serious. The secret to a long life- and not being too hungover -she is finally learning, is knowing when it is time to go.

Gail yawns widely. She folds her arms over herself and leans against the back of the stool, luxuriating in the fact she is in absolutely no hurry at all. She stretches her pale bare legs out to rest along the seat of the stool next to her and smiles.

Nope, this hangover is not too bad at all. It is one of those languid, sleepy aftermaths, the kind you can even learn to enjoy on the right type of day- as long as you treat it as a mere, mild side effect to a night well spent.

And today is just the right kind of day.

Maybe if she had to go to work today she wouldn't feel as good about the low notes of the headache skulking at her temples. But Gail doesn't have to go to work. Not today. Spread, languorous, before her is the delicious promise of a whole, precious, beautiful day off. Yep, stretched all the way to the horizon that is her early shift on Sunday morning is a Saturday away from 15, unsullied by the chasing of brainless criminals through frosty streets, by rescuing idiots who are still driving like it's summer out of wreckage on the snowy highway, or, the worst of them all, enduring a full day of desk duty.

Nope. Gail doesn't have to do any of that today. Nope, this day is all hers and she loves it. In fact, she'd write this day a Valentines Day card if it were February.

And maybe, just maybe, if she hadn't had such a good time last night the low rumble in her stomach that is treading the thin line between hunger and nausea would be more unpleasant. If it had been provoked by another prosaic night of drinking at the Penny instead of from the spontaneous after-work party at their house, she'd probably feel worse. If her memories of last night weren't a blisteringly sultry montage of jump shots from tequila to dancing to a quick escape when things threatened to get truly messy to a whole lot of mildly drunken but seriously fun, seriously hot sex, then yes, maybe Gail would mind this hangover more.

But instead she is really kind of enjoying it. In fact, once the Tylenol kicks in and she has a coffee in her hand, and she can really get down to the business of enjoying this Saturday off, Gail is pretty sure she will be _winning _this hangover.

And the gravy? Holly is making coffee.

Gail turns to watch Holly lean over her new espresso machine and smiles the smile of the indulged.

Gail would never tell her, but she still relishes the times when she finds an undisturbed moment just to sit back and watch Holly in action -when Holly doesn't know she is being watched, that is. Aside from the fact that she just likes looking at her, Gail find something calming in the precision and purpose that is Holly's every move. Holly has this even-keeled and optimistic-without-being-irritating energy about everything she does, and Gail finds it strangely pacifying.

It wasn't until she met Holly that Gail realised how sedentary she can be in her own downtime. Given the chance, Holly plays sport, reads books and even writes research papers in her free time. Gail could easily spend the same amount of time just kicking back and dreaming into the empty space above the couch by the window in her apartment. Maybe it is a response to the exertions demanded by her job, but Gail relishes stillness- and silence- when she can get it.

But not Holly. Holly is not so energetic that she is fidgety or noisy or any of those things. In fact, she's probably more relaxed than Gail has ever managed to be in her life. But she still has this spirited energy about her, an energy that says how much she likes to be in the moment, fully present at all times. Gail is pretty sure it comes from the fact that, unlike Gail, Holly is completely confident of her place in the world. And it is this particular brand of moxie that Gail finds herself so intrigued and soothed by.

And it is because of this confidence and purpose in Holly that Gail takes a particular, artful pleasure in working out just how to stop her in her tracks.

In fact, the power she is starting to feel in educating herself in how this woman operates is becoming incredibly exhilarating.

For one, Gail is loving learning the particular art of seducing this woman and is taking the task as seriously as any other assignment thrown her way. It has taken a while to get here, though. That first time, days after they saved Oliver, when the emotional distance from that disastrous day had allowed what had been their tentative, tender early affection ripen into desire, Gail found her first-timer nerves rendering her near-immobile. One minute she was deep in the promise of a long hot kiss, her hands teasing at the hem of Holly's shirt. The next she found herself frozen, her eyes cast downwards, her arms falling helplessly to her sides.

"I have _no _idea what I am doing," she'd whispered, distressed. This was not usually a moment when she floundered, but Gail had suddenly never felt so gauche.

Holly had just extricated her hands from the tangle of Gail's blonde hair and placed them on her shoulders, squeezing gently.

Yes, you _do_," she had whispered, "You really do."

Gail had just shaken her head, mortified, eyes fixed on the ground.

Holly had lifted her hands up onto Gail's face, drawing up her chin so Gail had to meet her eye, "You do because there is nothing you are _supposed_ to be doing right now. There are no rules or expectations."

Then she had just pressed her lips against Gail's, inviting her back into the moment. And Gail, swallowing her fears, followed.

Even as her confidence grew Gail had been happy to take a back seat at first, to take her time to learn the lay of the land- so to speak.

Last night had been different though. The courage that is tequila mixed with the promise of no alarm clock and some serious lust generated during those hours on the dance floor had done their work and Gail found herself feeling reckless and brave and more wilfully seductive than she had felt in a long time -probably not since those early, heady, pre-kidnap days with Nick. That was when she had last felt confident in her ability to be alluring. But last night she had felt hot and she had felt cocky -just like the Gail of old- and she had run with it, starting something in the taxi that hadn't finished until the early, grey-lit hours of dawn this morning.

And Holly did not seem to mind at all.

Yep, Gail thought, wriggling her toes on the stool and watching Holly finally figure out how to work the coffee machine, last night had been _fun_.

But it isn't just about seduction. Holly had been right: Gail did know what she was doing. Sex is still just all about instinct, it turns out. No matter who it is with.

But what really makes Gail delight is learning the other little unique details about what makes Holly tick as a person.

Gail hadn't realised until now that she has always been attracted to men with simple tastes, with uncomplicated emotional needs. It never took long to learn how to push their buttons, or to figure out what drove them. Or maybe it is just men in general, Gail thinks, shrugging. She has no idea. All she knows is she has never, ever, needed much subtlety –or to look so closely before. It has always been Gail they have had to figure out, not the other way around.

But there is something about this beautiful, complex woman that Gail finds herself fixed on wanting to educate herself in every tick and trait she can unearth in Holly, to know every single way to unlock her, both mentally and physically.

In just a few short weeks Gail has picked up enough to know she wants to know even more. She has learned that Holly likes handholding, and that she unembarrassedly enjoys giving flowers. She has learned that she doesn't really like to be cooked for (probably lucky), that she approaches most problems with an impressive mix of logic and wisdom and that she hates to miss the news or not to know the answer to a question. She even knows that when Holly is tired she rubs the space between her eyebrows and that when she is really exhausted she talks quietly in her sleep.

But there are other things that Gail likes knowing best: the intimate little things that only she has the right to know about this woman just now. Gail likes knowing that a lip or even a thumb brushed against the base of Holly's neck when she is getting sleepy will make her smile lazily and shut her eyes.

And Gail loves knowing that if she were to sidle up to Holly right now- if she was to place her hands on the back of her t-shirt and press her fingers along that stretch where her back turns the corner into her side and run them slowly downward along her ribs to her hips, that Holly will stop in her tracks, no matter what she is doing and lean back into her, purring.

Gail loves knowing that.

There is a hiss and a beep and finally Holly turns, triumphant, from the machine, a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. She notices Gail staring at her. An eyebrow shoots upwards.

"What?"

"Nothing." Gail sings, biting her bottom lip and smiling, playing virtuous.

Holly comes over and places the coffee cup in Gail's hands, smiling.

"Does anyone, _ever_, buy your innocent face?"

"Maybe," Gail shrugs, putting the cup on the bench and grabbing onto the bottom of Holly's t-shirt. "Now," she whispers, "turn around."

* * *

**I have two other Gail Peck/Rookie Blue fics. **

**It has Been ... A Day (eleven chapters)**

**20/20 Vision in Hindsight (one shot)**

**Please take a minute to review your thoughts when you are done. Feedback is always deeply appreciated and, let's not kid ourselves (Gail Peck wouldn't), highly motivating!**


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